Accessibility

The aim of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP IAPT) programme is to improve both the effectiveness of treatment and the experiences of children, young people and parents in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

Accessibility is one of the five core principles of the CYP IAPT programme. The principle involves actively working to improve access and engagement with services for children and adolescents.

How is accessibility improved?

The MindEd eLearning resource has identified the following steps to ensure services are accessible and relevant to young people and their families:

Ensure there is a shared vision and commitment to promoting the emotional health and well-being of all children and young people in the local area

Involving partner agencies, particularly local authorities, in the development and commissioning of services for children’s emotional health and well-being

Agreeing a core offer that expresses clearly to families and referrers the services available, the types of needs they meet, and any waiting time standards that apply to them– this would involve locally agreeing definitions of specialist services, for example, models could include varied elements of all levels of care (e.g., tiers 2, 3 and 4 services)

Setting up mechanisms to engage and involve staff across universal, targeted and specialist services in planning and implementation